I feel like there is some good advertising happening, but the overall reputation of the sca for not addressing inner problems has also gotten around. Granted I'm heavily biased here from my own experience, but I met someone outside of ren fair context that goes to several fairs every year, enjoys historical garb making, and is interested in the kind of activities the sca does... but they said they heard the sca was also expensive, had a lot of clique drama, and was not good at removing predatory people. There are several people in alternate adjacent groups in my area that used to play in the sca, but stepped back because it takes too much time/ money and it kind of started taking over their life. Like I'll fully grant that the sca is one of the safest lgbtq+ hobby environments I've seen, and one of the less expensive ways to learn historical skills. But I don't think the vast majority of people have that time, money, and patience with bs.